LENA (Language ENvironment Analysis) is a national nonprofit on a mission to transform early childhood education.
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LENA Grow
offers evidence-based professional development for early childhood educators.
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LENA Start
builds school readiness and strengthens families with parent-group classes.
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LENA SP
offers reliable, detailed language environment data in research and clinical applications.
In Ohio, LENA has reached 9.5k children and 2.2k early childhood educators since 2017, and LENA technology has recorded more than 8.1 million conversational turns.
With these CLSD funds, Ohio aims to "strengthen the way teachers and administrators are implementing the state’s science of reading initiative." Competitive subgrants will be awarded to birth to five organizations, in addition to K-12 initiatives. Early learning and early literacy skills go hand in hand, and this is a fantastic opportunity to bring LENA Grow to your community.
Preschool Promise, located in Dayton, was awarded funds to bring LENA Grow to its programs in 2019.
"As part of our CLSD application, we focused on the foundational elements of emergent language and literacy for infants and toddlers," said Amy Kronberg, Senior Manager of Early Learning Initiatives at Preschool Promise. "LENA was the most important tool we identified to support the quantity of interactions and help embed coaching into existing teaching practices."
A request for applications is expected to be released in early 2025.
The LENA team is here to support your application.
The Ohio Child Care Resource & Referral Association (OCCRRA) has adopted LENA Grow as a professional development and technical assistance program available in all 12 service delivery areas across the state.
Read more in a case study about OCCRRA's statewide implementation of LENA Grow.
LENA Grow teachers earn professional development hours that are required by child care licensing and through Step Up to Quality, as detailed in the Ohio Professional Registry.
July 13, 2024 | LCCAA Head Start teachers intentionally interact with every one of their students and they have the data to prove it. Read more ...
“OCCRRA chose LENA because of its intriguing established practice-based approach tracking conversational turns for each child. Ohio recognizes the critical need for early talk, for each child, which is supported throughout Ohio’s Early Learning and Development Standards, and targeted in the Language and Literacy Domain. LENA also aligns with Ohio’s Early Childhood Core Knowledge & Competencies and is a critical component in the Learning Environments & Experiences and Child Growth & Development Areas. ... LENA actively supports OCCRRA’s priority of educating early care and education professionals so young children reach their fullest abilities and are prepared to enter Kindergarten.”
"One of our teachers actually said, ‘You know, I love this tool because it reminds me that I’m having meaningful interactions with these children and that it’s helping them to grow,’ which I just think is such a beautiful light bulb moment to see."
Whether you're with a school district, CCR&R, state agency, library, university-community partnership, public health initiative, or any other organization dedicated to improving early childhood outcomes, we want to help you put your organization on the LENA map.
